Soulmates
by readingmachine
Summary: This story is just about how things would have gone if Bella's mind had been just a little less stubborn and she decided how much she truly loved Jacob, and how much Edward had been manipulating her and putting her in the face of danger. Not very original, I'm sure there's plenty of fanfics like this, but I liked the idea so I thought, why not?
1. Chapter 1

SOULMATES

Disclaimer: The following quote is from Stephenie Meyer's _Eclipse_ , however the rest of the story is right from my head

"I knew he would take advantage of the situation. I expected it. I held very still my eyes closed, my fingers curled into fists at my sides- as his hands caught my face and his lips found mine with an eagerness that was not far from violence.

I could feel his anger as his mouth discovered my passive resistance. One hand moved to the nape of my neck, twisting into a fist around the roots of my hair. The other hand grabbed roughly at my shoulder, shaking me, then dragging me to him. His hand continued down my arm, finding my wrist and pulling my arm up around his neck. I left it there, my hand still tightly balled up, unsure how far I could go in my desperation to keep him alive. All the while his lips, disconcertingly soft and warm, tried to force a response out of mine.

As soon as he was sure I wouldn't drop my arm, he freed my wrist, his hand feeling its way down my waist. His burning hand found the skin at the small of my back, and he yanked me forward, bowing my body against his.

His lips gave up on mine for a moment, but I knew he was nowhere close to finished. His mouth followed the line of my jaw, and the explored the length of my neck. He freed my hair, reaching for my other arm to draw it around his neck like the first.

Then both of his arms wre constricted around my waist, and his lips found my ear.

"You can do better than this, Bella," he whispered huskily. "You're overthinking it."

I shivered as I felt his teeth graze my earlobe.

"That's right," he murmured. "For once, just let yourself feel what you feel."

I shook my head mechanically until one of his hands wound back into my hair and stopped me.

His voice turned acidic. "Are you sure you want me to come back? Or did you really want me to die?"

Anger rocked through me like the whiplash after a heavy punch. That was too much- he wasn't fighting fair.

My arms were already around his neck, so I grabbed two fistfuls of his hair- ignoring the stabbing pain in my right hand- and fought back, struggling to pull my face away from his.

And Jacob misunderstood.

He was too strong to recognize that my hands, trying to yank his hair out by the roots, meant to cause him pain.

Instead of anger, he imagined passion. He thought I was finally responding to him.

With a wild gasp, he brought his mouth back to mine, his fingers clutching frantically against the skin at my waist.

A jolt of anger unbalanced my tenuous hold on self control; his unexpected, ecstatic response overthrew it entirely. If there had been only triumph, I might have been able to resist him. But the utter defenselessness of his sudden joy cracked my determination, disabled it. My brain disconnected from my body, and I was kissing him back. Against all reason, my lips were moving with his in strange, confusing ways they'd never moved before- because I didn't have to be careful with Jacob, and he certainly wasn't being careful with me.

My fingers tightened in his hair, but I was pulling him closer now.

He was everywhere. The piercing sunlight turned my eyelids red, and the color fit, matched the heat. The heat was everywhere. I couldn't see or hear or feel anything that wasn't Jacob."

-Stephenie Meyer's _Eclipse_

Bella's POV

I knew then that I loved him. But did I love him enough? More than Edward, the very thing I needed in life?

But I knew how much I needed Jacob, too. He was my personal sun. And what kind of world was it without the sun? I didn't want to live in darkness forever.

But I knew what would happen without Edward.

I didn't know what would happen without Jacob.

Had it ever occured to me what might happen if Jacob hadn't been there? If _he_ had left me rather than Edward?

I didn't want my mind to get too far ahead of itself, but it went there anyway. I knew I couldn't live without him.

Somehow, Jacob ended up being the one to pull away.

He kissed me again, but not as intensely. This kiss was sweet and lingering. But then he bounded off towards the forest.

"Jacob," I said as loudly as I could manage, which was a whisper, but I was sure he could still hear me, "Be safe."

I crumpled down on the hard ground of the cliff as tears rolled down my cheeks.

I don't know how long I sat there like that, crying, before something cold touched my arm.

"Bella?" he asked in a worried voice.

I didn't answer - his utter obliviousness to my mindset made the crying come back harder and louder.

"You don't know how crazy that makes me," he muttered grumpily as he sat down while wrapping his arms around me at a human pace. I was surprised - he usually wasn't so slow.

Finally, I sniffled and said, "I've done something horrible."

"No, you haven't. You just kissed him, that's all," he crooned, rubbing my shoulders and back softly.

"I didn't just kiss him, Edward. I. . . I love him."

Edward grimaced.

"I'm sorry. . . " I sniffled again, "I just. . . He was going to kill himself, and. . . I. . . I love him. I'm so sorry, Edward."

I got to choose from two great things. But the bad thing about that was that one way or another, I broke one great heart.

"It's okay, Bella. You know I'll support whatever decision you make about this."

Why was he so understanding? Did he assume that I loved Jacob, just not as much as him? That was understandable, considering all that I've done to prove the point that I loved Edward, but not Jacob.

"It's not okay. I love you both, but. . . I think I love him more."

Edward's face was unreadable as he processed this information.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered, hugging his statue form. But he didn't move at all in response. He just sat there.

He wasn't moving.

"Edward!" I shouted at him as I shook his arm. Seth seemed to be watching us intently.

He suddenly stood up, staring at Seth.

"You win, Dog," he told him in a calm voice. A scary voice.

Seth howled painfully. I realized he wasn't talking to Seth, but using him to communicate to Jacob through Seth's head. I was shocked.

Edward became a blur as he ran through the forest, leaving me alone. Seth trotted up to me and sat down next to me. He was huge compared to me, especially in his wolf form, but I took comfort in his presence. It meant Jake was there, in a way, too.

But Edward had left.

There was the hole again. The deep metaphorical gash that went right through my chest whenever Edward was gone. I would have to deal with that now - it would become part of my life from now on.

I ran my fingers through Seth's fur, which was surprisingly soft and comforting, until he stood up suddenly.

"What is it?" I demanded. Seth, of course, didn't respond.

I saw looked into the woods, following his gaze, but saw nothing. Seth let out a whimper.

"What's happening?" I demanded again. I needed to know. Immediately. Though I was sure any danger that scared Seth was beyond my control, it was still instinct to know everything.

Before I knew what was happening, a giant russet wolf came crashing through the trees at the same time as the exact shade of fiery red hair that had haunted my dreams for months appeared just a few meters from me. But Jacob was between us, and Seth was getting closer to the scene, moving from my side.


	2. Chapter 2

Jacob's POV:

 _Get her!_

 _To your left!_

 _Leah, don't-!_

 _Right behind you!_

Being in the pack meant that I had to deal with all these voices at once. But, as the bloodsucker neared me and Seth, I tuned all the voices out but one.

 _Jacob, it's the redhead!_

 _I realize that!_

 _But there's two!_

 _Again,_ I realize that _!_

 _I'll get the redhead, you go for the newborn._

 _No way! Get the newborn! I don't like the way the redhead's looking at Bella._

 _You take the fun out of everything._

 _Not the time, Seth!_ I heard Leah's mental voice yell at Seth. Her mindset was filled with worry for her younger brother.

 _He's fine,_ I grumbled.

I let my mind fall into a confident tone to relax Leah. It seemed to work.

The male and female came together.

"Victoria!" I heard Bella gasp in horror.

I turned back and gave her a reassuring stare. Then I turned back to the redhead and the male.

They were coming closer and closer. Seth and I tensed up, ready to fight. Then we sprang.

⬛️⬛️⬛️

Bella's POV

I watched in absolute horror as Jacob and Seth both simultaneously sprang at Victoria and the other unnamed vampire.

"Riley!" she hissed. Even my weak human ears could hear the confusion in her tone.

He looked at her, then back.

The sandy colored wolf—it was still hard to consider him Seth—engulfed the other vampire, Riley. I heard an awful sound like screeching metal, but this was far worse than anything I'd ever heard in my life.

Victoria didn't spare Riley a second glance as he was ripped apart by a huge mutant wolf.

Jacob was walking around Victoria in circles. I waited anxiously for one of them to spring.

Finally, after what felt like years of waiting, Jacob lunged for Victoria.

I looked away. I couldn't take any more of this. I hid my face in my hands and tried not to scream.

I looked up for only a moment after a little bit of sitting like that and saw Jacob, limping away from Victoria and Seth working on Riley. Seth didn't seem like he was in very good shape either.

At that point, I couldn't look away.

Victoria was moving faster than my eyes could follow, but so was Jake. I tried not to keep up. Seth was trying to rip Riley apart, but I could see the pieces of vampire flesh crawling over to him. A hand here, pieces of his face there. Suddenly, Seth had a hand wrapped around his ankle. I cringed when he collapsed to the ground.

Riley jumped over Seth with a sudden burst of speed. Towards me.

Something that resembled a growl, but a thousand times fiercer, escaped Jacob's mouth.

I think I might've screamed in horror, but the sound was lost in the chaos of the situation. Jacob was growling non stop as he lunged for Riley's head, leaving Victoria for Seth. I was shocked by that Jacob had left Seth to face Victoria all by himself. But I saw an intense fierceness in his eyes that resembled something that I had seen in Edward's once. . .

With that thought, something snapped into reality.

Edward was gone. He was not coming back.

And it was all my fault.

I stared back up at Jacob's wolf-form fighting off Riley. I wasn't sure who was winning, but it seemed like Jacob was. I imagined how much more smoothly this would have happened if Edward was still here. But I didn't want him to be here. Did I? I was confusing myself. I shook my head. Jacob was my soulmate. That was final.

Suddenly, Victoria broke off from Seth and swept around Jacob more swiftly than my weak human eyes could handle. She was right in front of me now, staring wonderingly at me.

"Where is he?" she asked in a strangely feline voice.

"Wh-where is who?" I stammered, shaking with horror.

Jacob came up behind her, but she turned around in a flash and kicked him backwards. He got back up, but he was at least three yards away, crumpled over. Seth was still fighting Riley, not sparing his pack brother a glance. I supposed that he could hear his mind well enough, though.

Jacob was hurt.

And Victoria was staring me in the eyes, smiling with ultra-white teeth showing menacingly.

"Edward!" she growled at me.

"I-he left!" I shouted.

"No, he didn't! I can smell him everywhere! Tell me where he is, or I'll kill you _and_ your little wolves. _Where is he_?"

"I don't know where he is!" I sobbed.

"Very well," she whispered.

Victoria reached forward and snatched my neck up quicker than I could process. All I could focus on was her face, but I could faintly hear growling in the distance. I prayed that Jacob could still move, and that someone could distract Riley long enough for Seth to help.

"You're going to die slowly," Victoria breathed, the sweet scent of her breath swishing across my face.

I screaming as she swung me around like a rag doll then slammed me into the hard ground of the small clearing.

I was nearing unconsciousness when Victoria shrieked angirly in my ear, "Don't fall asleep! Then you won't be able to feel all this _pain_! Just like the pain I felt when your Edward killed Ja-"

She cut of suddenly and bent down, as if to kiss my neck. Then she slowly let her teeth pierce my skin. I felt myself go light-headed.

My head slowly bobbed backwards as stars filled my vision. But then I drifted slowly into a peaceful sleep.

It was only peaceful for a few moments, though. Then I was drowning in darkness. And the burning sensation, starting in my neck that I knew all too well.

I screamed and trashed, but it was becoming more and more useless. Jake was useless because of Victoria, and Seth was fighting off Riley. And Edward wasn't coming back to save me. All because of me. So in a way, I was the cause of my own death. If I had never fallen in love with Edward. . . If I had never moved to Forks. . . All the what-ifs that could have saved me. If only I had never been born. Then I would never had to die. Solid reasoning, at the time. At the time, I was also burning, so that might have clouded my judgement.

"Bella! Bella, can you hear me? BELLA! Oh God, please stay with me. . . " a familiar voice sobbed.

But it was all wrong. He was supposed to be gone. Forever. I had already said my goodbyes. But that didn't change the fact that cold hands were shaking my arms manically. It burned a little less where his hands made contact with my skin.

 _I'm here! I'm here! I can hear you!_ I mentally screamed. Why couldn't I talk to him?!

I gasped suddenly and started coughing. His lips were at my neck, teeth sinking into the spot where Victoria had already bitten.

I heard Jacob's growl. But Edward didn't stop.

At some point, I realized what he was doing. He was trying to save me like he had two years ago in Arizona. He was trying to suck the venom out of my system.

I gasped and blinked crazily. There were still black spots clouding my vision, but I could see around them.

At first all I saw was Edward, determination clear on his face. Then I saw Jacob's human horror-struck face.

"He's saving me!" I tried to assure him, but all that got out was random mumbling. I hoped he understood.

"What are you doing?!" he demanded of Edward. "That's enough! You're killing her! _Stop!_ " I could see tears streaking down Jacob's face now, and all I wanted was to go and protect him, to tell him that I was happy and alive and that Edward was actually saving me, but I was spiraling back into the blackness trying to drown me. Edward _was_ taking too much blood. . . He was killing me.

Well, that was one way to die that I had been prepared for for a really long time. But I had let down my defenses as soon as Edward had left me before Victoria had come.

And now. . . He was killing me.


	3. Chapter 3

In this chapter I did a little of Alice's POV. Tell me if I did her justice and if you like the tapestry idea please.

Bella's POV

I was drifting through the darkness peacefully. I was no longer trying to fight it. I just wanted it to be over with. And it was taking an annoyingly long time.

But there were still the voices willing me to live in the background. Edward was nowhere near me anymore. He had left what felt like hours ago. But was probably only a few minutes. Sometimes I would see flashes of orange. And there was some heat, but eventually that went away too. The darkness was never ending. I was going to die. But I was okay with that. I wouldn't be able to hurt anyone else if I was dead.

No, I would still be hurting Renee and Charlie. And Edward. And Jacob. And all of my other friends. . .

I would never stop hurting anyone.

At some point, I wondered if I really did want to die.

No, I didn't _want_ to die, but it seemed inevitable. I was just a weak little human, and now I would never be able to live forever. If I became like Edward, how would Jacob ever be able to love me? And I didn't want to have the promise of immortal thirst hanging over my head. I would never be satisfied.

Quicker and quicker I sunk into the endless sea of darkness.

◼️◼️◼️

Jacob's POV

I ran helplessly through the woods, carrying Bella as if I were holding a newborn baby. She was so soft and peaceful in sleep. . . Until she started talking. But it wasn't as clear as the night before. Her words were jumbled together mumblings.

The bloodsucker had taken too much blood! At first, I had thought it was genius. But I hadn't considered that he might take too much blood. And he just came out of nowhere!

I could feel her slipping away. It was like something inside me was dying.

But I had to keep her alive. I had made a promise a long time ago not to hurt her, and I knew that letting her die now would be to kill her.

◼️◼️◼️

Alice's POV

Left, right, behind, in front of me. They were everywhere. And I knew exactly where they would be, the very moment they figured it out for themselves. I saw what would happen if they made another move, affecting the whole future of me and my family.

But then, suddenly, a thread in the whole tapestry of life, changed. It was just. . . gone. Slipping away.

Bella was gone.

Or at least, she would be gone. Soon. I saw her talking to my brother. He had an expression that I'd seen on his face twice. Once, when we were in Phoenix last year. When he had almost killed Bella. And then again when we left Forks. It was a strange expression that chilled my bones. He left the clearing where he was supposed to be protecting her.

"Edward left," I murmured in astonishment.

Jasper didn't hesitate as he ripped the head off the newborn in front of me. I had stopped in my tracks when I got the vision, and there had been a newborn just a little in front of me. I was so caught up in the future that I hadn't even noticed the present.

"Edward left what?" Jasper wondered as he dismembered another one and threw the body parts into our bonfire.

"He left the clearing!" I gasped, spinning around to come face-to-face with another newborn.

"What? Why?!"

"I don't- I don't know," I admitted, feeling useless. That was the worst feeling ever, and I had been feeling it more than ever lately.

"Where's he going?" Jasper asked me, speaking more calm than before. He could see the stress on my face, I was sure. He calmed my nerves with his special abilities. I frowned at him. I wasn't angry or stressed _yet_ , but I knew that the moment that he was far enough away from me or got too distracted to keep ahold of my emotions, all of that would come rushing to me.

"I'll tell you, just stop with the mood thing," I said, irritated.

He shook his head.

"Fine," I muttered, "I see him. . . . Going. . . ." I stopped. I didn't know where he was going. He was unsure, going wherever he could. There were thousands of different variables. I saw him inhaling deeply through his nose, and then his honey-gold eyes turning rabid. But in another alternate world, I saw him inhaling, then frowning and running in the opposite direction from where he went in the other vision. What was the smell?

But Bella was gone. Her future was solid, unmoving. It was blocked, not gone. So she was with the wolves. But she was fading. She was dying. How?

Edward chose the first of the two futures that I had seen - the one where he went in the direction of whatever he smelled.

Slowly, Bella's future came back.

I picked out another thread in the tapestry, one that I had been looking out for more often, but still wasn't accustomed to. Where Bella was a somewhat beige, this thread was a reddish-brown. I didn't know exactly who they were, just that I didn't see them. I had never realized how hard it would be to look for something that you couldn't see until I tried.

Now, the fighting became part of the background. I was still fighting, but I was also partially in the future.

The reddish-brown thread was near Bella-that's what was forcing her to fade. But the reddish-brown was fading just as Bella's beige came back. And Edward's navy-blue was intertwining with Bella's thread just once. For the last time, as far as I could see. This confused me. Just hours ago, their threads had been tied together inseparably. Now Bella had an invisible blockade surrounding her future, protecting it. The mutt.

But at the end of it all, Bella's string faded long before the blockade _or_ Edward's blue. Edward's ended shortly after her's, maybe by a few years.

But the tapestry changed all the time. This was nothing to worry about.

I saw Edward leaning down, almost as if to kiss Bella's neck, and bit. The pulse in her neck got fainter and fainter by the second. He seemed horrified. Finally, just before it was too late for her, he backed away. Slowly, at first, but then quicker and quicker until he was sprinting away at top-speed. His future from there was undecided. The only thing I could decipher for sure was that he wasn't going back to Bella, and he wasn't coming back to his family. At least, not yet.

"Alice!" Jasper hissed at me, trying to bring me back to the present. To focus on the fight, I was sure.

"Stop! This is important!"

" _What do you see_?" he demanded, forcing my mind into forgiveness and willingness.

I sighed.

"It's Edward."

"What about him?" Jasper asked, soothing more calmness into my system.

"I think he killed Bella," I whispered.

Jasper didn't break his stride as he dismembered the newborns piece by piece.

I hadn't noticed before because of my trance, but there weren't very many of them left. Maybe five. There was a small brunette girl pleading in front of Carlisle. His face had empathy written all over it.

"How?" he asked cooly.

"Um, the reddish-brown I told you about. . . I still can't see them, but they were about to kill Bella. And then Edward came and tried to fix her, like always. He was sucking the venom out of her system, but I don't think he was ready. He hasn't hunted enough to not be attracted by her blood, of all people, and so he took _way_ too much. Bella's future is in the hands of the dog, so I have no idea if she's going to live. Our futures are disappearing, too. So they're coming here."

As I said that, a huge sandy-colored wolf came through a break in the trees.

Rosalie snarled, and Emmett put his hand on her shoulder, trying to get her to calm down. But his expression had hostility on it, too. Probably remembering when one of the wolves had attacked him. But he had to keep Rosalie centered. I'm pretty sure if Emmett and Rosalie were born for anything, it would be to love each other.

Following the wolf was Jacob Black, carrying Bella in his arms. He had tears running down his cheeks. By now, the only newborn was the little one trying to talk to Carlisle. As Bella's scent wafted into the area, the girl screamed in pain and agony. It was something that I recognized well. She wanted Bella's blood horribly.

And I didn't blame her. They had passed around her scent, and she _was_ a newborn. So her restraint could barely be controlled.

"You have to fight it," Carlisle said to her in a quiet tone that even I had to strain my ears to hear.

" _But she smells so good_!" the newborn wailed.

Jacob looked completely horrified.

"Get that thing out of here! Bella needs Doc!"

I frowned, and Jasper lost his grip of my emotions when he smelled the wolves. His eyes were full of acid and hate. I looked at him, trying to use his abilities against him. Obviously, it didn't work since I had no grip on anyone's emotions but my own. Sometimes not even my own.

Carlisle looked at Jasper and nodded. Jasper went over to the newborn girl and stared at her crumpled body wailing in pain. Carlisle went to Bella. He crouched down and felt for her pulse. There was a frown etched into his face.

"Alice, get my medical bag," he commanded, hovering over Bella's limp body. I could just barely hear her faint breathing. It was sad, really. All this work we had put into her and she was going to die anyway, just because Edward didn't want to "ruin her soul." So stupid. It seemed morbid, but it was true. I truly did love Bella, but what was the point? I had seen her thread go away. Either that or go with Jacob forever.

But still. . . . That didn't change the fact that I loved her. And so that's why I was sprinting to get Carlisle's medical bag.

◼️◼️◼️

Bella's POV

I couldn't find the strength to open my eyes. I just laid there. Helpless. Useless.

Though everything sounded as though it were underwater, I could still hear.

"Where is he?" Carlisle asked. Even muffled, I could hear the concern in his voice.

"Wherever his mind takes him. He doesn't plan on anything in particular, so it's just flashes and skipping," Alice's beautiful voice muttered sadly.

I had a feeling I knew who they were talking about, but I didn't care. I kept listening.

"When is she going to wake up?" a familiar, husky voice wondered anxiously. Jacob. My heart fluttered at the sound of his voice. I felt like I should have been blushing, but I didn't.

"I would be able to tell if you weren't here!" Alice complained.

"She just needs a little time to regain her strength, that's all. We need to be patient. After all, she's only human," Carlisle chuckled.

Internally, I frowned. I knew that that was all I added up to. Just a stupid, weak human.


End file.
